Firearms, or portable guns that may be carried, generally by a single individual, have been available for several centuries. However, in the last hundred years or so, a transition has taken place from cumbersome muzzle loaded firearms to those which may generally be referred to as “self-loading”. For example, the multiple chambered cylinder of a handheld revolver may be loaded with several rounds of ammunition at a single point in time. Subsequently, as the trigger of the revolver is pulled for sake of firing an initial round, the cylinder may simultaneously be rotated for “self-loading” of the next round to he fired. As a result, so long as the cylinder still contains unspent rounds, the user need not stop between firing shots in order to reload as would be the case with a muzzle loaded firearm. However, the conventional revolver does have some aspects that are less than user-friendly when the gun is put into actual use. For example, because the pull of the trigger must provide the energy sufficient for both recoiling of the hammer or firing pin and also for the rotation of the self-loading cylinder, the gun is often somewhat heavier or more difficult to control.
With the cumbersome nature of both muzzle loaded guns and revolvers in mind, more user-friendly semi-automatic firearms are often utilized, Like a revolver, a semi-automatic firearm is a self-loading firearm that is not fully automatic. That is, while self-loading, both a revolver and a semi-automatic firearm would not be considered “self-triggering” as discussed further below. The semi-automatic firearm, however, does have user-friendly advantages in that a spring loaded magazine may be utilized to provide the energy for the “self-loading” of subsequent rounds. That is, as opposed to relying on the user's band strength in pulling the trigger to rotate a cylinder for sake of loading subsequent rounds, the energy for reloading of the semi-automatic is supplied by a spring in a magazine which houses subsequent rounds. Thus, once a round is fired and space for the next round is available, the spring of the magazine will “self-load” the next round.
The semi-automatic firearm does provide some user-friendly and control advantages which in certain respects may render the firearm a bit safer. However, certain challenges remain, indeed, even in looking at the simple task of pulling a trigger, the opportunity for human error remains. For example, as a matter of physiology, users untrained in the use of firearms often display a tendency to move the gun slightly in the direction of the hand pulling the trigger as the gun is being fired. Of course, given that this is a firearm, missing a target for this reason could be of disastrous consequences. Once more, for a person that is handicapped or otherwise compromised in terms of manual abilities, the act of pulling a trigger may be impossible or of enhanced danger if attempted.
These challenges are not ones that might be addressed by way of utilizing a fully automatic firearm. That is, as alluded to above, a fully automatic firearm is one that is not only “self-loading” but is also considered to be “self-triggering”. However, this term is a bit misleading in that the fully automatic firearm requires that the user pull and hold the trigger. Indeed, the only self-triggering aspect is that unlike a semi-automatic or revolver, there need not be a re-pulling of the trigger for each new round to be fired. Instead, the energy for firing of subsequent rounds is supplied by the charge of the prior fired round so long as the user maintains a manual hold on the trigger. However, this not only fails to address the need of the user to manually pull a trigger as described above but it also leads to a variety of other potential safety issues. That is, in addition to natural trigger pull control issues which a non-fully automatic might face, the automatic firearm does not require a re-pull of the trigger. Therefore, the user does not have the ability to control the rate at which the rounds are fired. As a practical matter this may mean that the user has quickly spent an uncertain amount of ammunition in a manner that has no more control in terms of accuracy than that found in the use of a non-fully automatic firearm. In fact, due to the uncontrolled rate at which rounds are fired, the hazards involved have only increased without ever addressing potential issues a user may face in terms of manual trigger pull.